Vin Diesel Confirms Plans to Do Groot’s Motion Capture Work

Following a series of online teases, Vin Diesel finally revealed earlier this month that he’s planning on playing Groot in director James Gunn’s now-filming Guardians of the Galaxy (although he does admit that the deal is not yet fully complete). At today’s junket for Diesel’s latest, Riddick, ShockTillYouDrop.com‘s Ryan Turek asked the actor about the role and whether or not his portrayal of Groot would be limited to voicework.

“It’ll be voiceover, MoCap and all of that stuff,” Diesel says. “It’s going to be super cool.”

That means an awfully busy schedule for Diesel, who begins production next week on James Wan’s Fast & Furious 7. In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he explains that his upcoming slate is actually what brought the Groot role his way.

“What we were intially talking about was a fresh IP,” says Diesel, “and that was the focus of our conversation. A fresh IP that would come out in 2016 or 2017 to potentially launch a third phase. When we went to Comic-Con, we realized that we wanted something more immediate.”

So what intellectual property was Diesel speaking with Marvel about? Ant-Man is already set to launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Phase Three,” but it’s also supposed to hit theaters at the tail end of 2015, earlier than whatever project Diesel is referencing. There’s also the question of whether or not discussions for that film are still on the table. Could he potentially play that role in addition to Groot? Only time will tell, but check back for details as soon as they become available and catch Riddick in theaters September 6.